END
by ACP-1994KS
Summary: Warning! This story contains major spoilers for those who are not caught up with the manga. Natsu wakes up in an unfamiliar place with no recollection of what happened before hand. As he continues to explore the location, he finds a scene beyond his worst night mares and meets the person he would least expect to see. Major character death, one-shot


**Hello, it is I, back with another one-shot**

**If you didn't read the summary, just to let you know one more time, if you're not caught up with the manga, there are major spoilers in this story! If you don't like spoilers, please don't just read it and blame me for spoilers.**

**Thank you, and enjoy!**

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What just… happened?

Natsu Dragneel groaned as he sat up from where he had been lying down, a hand pressed firmly to his forehead to somehow stop the unusual throbbing pain that he had. Weird, headaches didn't normally happen to him unless his motion sickness kicked in, but that didn't seem to be the case this time.

Looking around, he squinted his eyes in the darkness, trying to deduce where on Earthland he was. He figured he was outside from the little details he could spot out with his hindering headache, and it was still night out with an overcast of clouds. Damn, if only the moon had been out. He didn't recognize the smell of the location, although there was a sort of stale metallic scent in the air. There was no recollection of how he had gotten to this place, or what had happened in the past few hours or however long he had been in this place.

Struggling to get up, he stood swaying where he was, his legs trembling under his weight and his knees about to buckle any second.

"What the hell's going on?" He muttered to himself and found that his voice was hoarse. Had he been screaming? Then he must have screamed a hell of a lot more than he normally did during his battles. To top it off, his breaths were much shorter and shallower. He was out of breath to this extent as well?

Well, no matter. He had to get back to Lucy and the others, fast. Who knew how long he had been in this place for? Lucy would probably be furious with him for being gone for so long and Happy would be worried. The rest of the guild would be too, since it had only been a few days since the former guild had gotten back together. He had a lot of catching up to do with everyone, a whole year's worth of adventures to share! He couldn't wait to show everyone the fruit of his training, especially that bastard Gray. This would finally be the time that he would battle and beat Gray's ass to the ground.

Taking a step forward, he halted as he felt a drop fall onto his head. Water? Was it going to rain? He ruffled his hair to get the water out and continued on his way forward to find his way back to his friends.

Stumbling through the darkness, he heard his feet splash through a couple of puddles on the ground. Where was all this water coming from? Had it already rained? Didn't really feel like it.

Taking in a deep breath, he continued to shuffle forward when his foot stepped upon a metal object, the sound of it scraping on the ground cutting through the silence. Curious as to what it was, he bent down to pick it up. He scrutinized the object as closely as he could in the darkness.

What were Lucy's gate keys doing in a place like this?

He took a step back, frantically surveying his surroundings. His headache and the trembling in his legs were gone and replaced by adrenaline that ran through his blood. The metallic smell, the puddles, Lucy's keys… It couldn't be, right?

As his dragon eyes adjusted to the scene in front of him, something that they should have been able to do just moments before, his whole being froze.

His heart was racing, his breaths quickened, and his muscles were shaking beyond measure from what he saw. He stared down at the body of his blonde partner, her chocolate eyes wide open in shock and disbelief. Her torso had been torn open, showing Natsu a sight that he had only seen in his nightmares.

"L-Luce…" He stammered, unable to get words to come out of his mouth. "Wh-what's going on?" He took slow, wobbly steps backward, trying to comprehend the situation at hand.

In a flash, the world turn over for him as he tripped and fell backwards into a slick puddle of blood, his feeling of dread rising by the minute. He turned his head to see what he had stumbled over.

The severed head of his friend and rival stared back with lifeless eyes.

Natsu let out a startled cry and got away as fast as he could on his elbows and back as his fight-or-flight instincts kicked in. "Gray!" He yelped and spotted the Ice Mage's body not too far away. "What the hell is going on!?" He screamed and froze.

Out in the distance the red sun decided to rise for the day just at that moment, like it did with every day that Natsu had been alive in the world. Only this time, Natsu wished that it didn't.

There, under a tree glistening red with blood, was Cana with her father's arm still protectively around her, and Levy close by with her left leg torn off…

Droy and Jet were in their vicinity, both with deep gashes upon their necks.

Wendy's expression looked like she had been screaming and crying for mercy while the assailant had torn off her head in the same fashion that Gray's had been. Carla wasn't anywhere to be seen but judging from the amount of the white cat's blood that Natsu could smell in the air, he had doubts about her survival.

He could see Gajeel's black mane some distance away from him although he couldn't tell if anything below the torso was still attached.

Erza's armor was torn to shreds, bits of metal flung all around her and even embedded into her own skin where a whole had been punched into her abdomen.

Laxus' blonde hair could be seen in the midst of the terror, his purple fur coat still draping his shoulders and covering the horror of what killed the Lightning Dragon Slayer. The corpses of his bodyguards strewn all around him like they were still trying to protect him in death.

Natsu couldn't believe it. Even Laxus and Erza to be defeated to this extent… All this was just too much to take in, too much to comprehend.

His view swept across the bodies of his comrades, each burning a permanent image into his brain. Max and Warren, sand thrown all around them; Elfman, Lisanna and Mirajane, all huddled together in the last attempt to protect each other; Alzack and Bisca desperately and despairingly struggling to protect their beloved and late daughter in what was their dying breaths; Macao and Wakaba lying spread-eagle on the ground, Romeo not too far beyond them; behind Natsu was Juvia with her arm stretched out towards Gray along with… was that Jellal that he saw?

As his eyes wandered, they rested on Lucy's dead form again and stared, noticing a minute detail he had missed in his alarm earlier. The Celestial Mage had been protecting something in her last living moments. Something dear and important, Natsu noted from the way that she had her arms wrapped around it and had her back exposed. Something…

His breath caught in his lungs as he recognized the blue fur and the blood-stained wings and the green Fairy Tail insignia on the back. Even Happy…

A strangled howl tore through the sunrise as the lone Fairy grieved the deaths of his loved ones. There were so many questions running through his head, all demanding to be answered. How could the whole guild be slaughtered in such a cruel and unmerciful way? Why was he the only one who had been spared? Why had any of this happened?

Hot, wet messes ran down his cheeks as his breath hitched and his shoulders shook up and down. It wasn't fair he reasoned, why had he been left behind? They all had promised to stick together from now on, nobody was going to leave again. So the moment everyone got back together, why was he the only one living and breathing?

From the midst of his agony and remorse, there was one thought that continued to nag him in the back of his mind. He knew that he would have to address it sooner or later, and that no matter how much he tried to answer his questions, this one thought would do it.

Why were there burn marks on everyone?

If the enemy had been one able to use fire, then Natsu would have beaten him easily. He was the Flame Dragon Slayer, after all. There wasn't a single type of fire in the world that Natsu couldn't eat. If it wasn't anyone else, then the one who did all this… there was no way.

A slight smile made its way to Natsu's lips despite his cascading tears as panic took him over, uncontrollable laughs of hysteria rattling through his entire body. This was too much to take in; the fact that he, Natsu Dragneel, had killed off his entire family…

"Way to go!" He screamed, crying and laughing at the same time. "You swore to protect them! Fairy Tail was your family after Igneel died and you swore to protect them!" He slammed his fists down onto the earth, now soft mud full of blood. "Now they're dead!" He chuckled and covered his face in his hands, smearing his comrade's blood and dirt onto his cheeks. "Lucy and Happy and Gray and everyone else are all dead, you stupid bastard!" He wailed as he clutched at the pink locks up on his head, "Why did you do it, Natsu Dragneel, why!?"

As he continued to scream into the dawn, the man who constantly walked with death approached him, a calm but content expression on his usually empty face. The black-haired man smiled quite fondly at the sight in front of him, relishing at the deaths of the people who had single-handedly destroyed the demons of his book. Well, all but one.

"Do you see what your fate has brought you?" The Dark Mage asked, stepping over the bodies and observing the setting around him. "I had warned Fairy Tail and Mavis what was to come if they opposed me. I had been told that your guild would defeat me, and what has become of them?" He spread his arms apart, as if to present the spectacle to the sole survivor. "A one-sided annihilation, just as I had predicted."

He paused for a moment, waiting to see if the man kneeling before him would respond. When it was evident that he wouldn't, Zeref continued. "I must really thank you, Natsu." He said while smirking. "If it weren't for you, I would have never gotten Fairy Tail out of my way. With this guild as it is now, even Mavis in her Lumen Histoire won't be able to stop me!" He threw his head up towards the sky, laughing with joy like he had never done before. "And you!" He gestured towards Natsu, who seemed to be listening to his words at this point. "With you, the best of all my demons awake, this world will cease to exist."

The Black Mage ceased his oration for second, putting an emphasis on his words by staring down at the person before him. "Natsu, I had originally created you hoping that someday, you would grow powerful enough to end my life. But I've grown tired of waiting. Four hundred years and even more of being in this world and I realized, instead of ending my own life, why don't I end the world? So Natsu, together, we'll destroy this earth and ultimately, along with it, ourselves. What a fitting way to die! Don't you agree?" Zeref grinned even wider and stood directly in front of Natsu, his arms spread apart and his head tilted up towards the brightening sky. "Everything. All burnt to ashes, without even a single flicker of hope for survival! There will be no dragons or humans or any sort of life in this wretched world to claim power ever again. This world will turn into nothing!" The black-haired man sighed with satisfaction as he lowered his arms and cast his eyes down to his subordinate. "And that is what will happen. From now on Natsu, you and I, we'll strive towards that goal. After all, you've lost everything. What use will have for this world now?"

At this, the Flame Demon stood, all his tears spent and his emotions cast aside. His eyes held a hollow look inside them, not a care left inside of him for what happened next. He smiled slightly, the same smile that came to his face earlier as insanity had taken him over.

His creator looked amused as Natsu stood, a grin pasted over his face. "Well then, shall we go, Natsu?" He turned and began walking, having no particular destination in mind as the former Dragon Slayer followed him absentmindedly. "Or should I say, Etherios Natsu Dragneel?" He looked back, looking to see if the demon would react to his true name. When he didn't, Zeref turned back to the path he was taking, tossing the small matter aside. He mused to himself, having smiled more in the last five minutes than the past four hundred years of his life. After all, he had his final creation right by his side.

"E.N.D., a fitting name, don't you suppose?"

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**Thanks for reading, as always.**

**If you didn't listen to me in the beginning don't blame me, ok**

**Don't forget to leave reviews!**

**Also don't forget to submit suggestions for the next fic (I'm running out of ideas)**


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